United Nations in Zimbabwe, Block 10, Arundel Office Park, Norfolk Road, Mt. Pleasant, Harare (2026)

The United Nations Country Team (UNCT) is the highest level inter-agency coordination and decision making-body in Zimbabwe, which is led by the United Nations Resident Coordinator, the designated representative of the UN Secretary General in Zimbabwe. The UNCT allows for all UN entities with activities in Zimbabwe to work as a team in formulating common positions on strategic issues, ensuring cohe

rence in action and advocacy. The UNCT in Zimbabwe ascribes to the accepted principles and guidelines of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), which unites all UN funds, programmes, agencies, departments, and offices at headquarter level that play a role in development. The UNCT in Zimbabwe works to support the Government in rebuilding and strengthening national capacities to achieve full economic, political and social recovery in order to set a higher development trajectory. The UNCT is therefore responsible for ensuring the delivery of tangible results in support of the national development agenda of the Government and in line with internationally agreed principles and standards. This is done through the Zimbabwe United Nations Development Assistance Framework (ZUNDAF). In order to have a positive impact on the lives of Zimbabweans, the UNCT relies on its comparative advantages. The UNCT brings its unique, neutral and impartial role across the development and humanitarian spheres; its normative legitimacy and permanent presence in Zimbabwe; and the breadth of its engagement, including its capacity to leverage resources. The UNCT values its engagement with all stakeholders, including Government, bilateral and multilateral donors, non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations and the private sector. As such, the UNCT seeks to consistently build upon its position as a key partner, most notably by creating and reinforcing partnerships for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

13/08/2026

UN Mourns Lives Lost in Lake Kariba Boat Tragedy

The UN Development System in Zimbabwe is deeply saddened by the tragic boat accident on Lake Kariba and extends its heartfelt condolences to the Government of Zimbabwe and to all families and communities who have lost loved ones. We join the nation in mourning the 44 lives lost and wish a swift recovery to those injured and affected.

We acknowledge the Government’s declaration of a National Disaster and commend the swift efforts of responders and authorities providing medical care, psychosocial support, and other essential services.

The UN Country Team stands in solidarity with the Government and people of Zimbabwe and remains ready to support national and local authorities in line with identified needs, including technical assistance to strengthen maritime safety and disaster risk management.

At this difficult time, we honour the courage of first responders and all those assisting affected families. Our thoughts are with the bereaved families and all those impacted.

03/08/2026

Zimbabwe’s Youth Stand at the Heart of “Lives, Choices and Futures”

By Sirak Gebrehiwot

In a world unsettled by economic uncertainty, climate shocks and conflict, young people in Zimbabwe are refusing to give up on the future. Instead, they are demanding the tools, the space and the sit that the table to shape it.

That spirit – hopeful yet clear-eyed about the challenges ahead – was at the center of the recently marked Zimbabwe’s 2026 World Population Day commemorations and the launch of the Demographic Futures Report 2026, held under the global theme: “Lives, Choices and Futures”.

This year’s focus, guided by new UNFPA data and powerful national voices, made one message unmistakable that Zimbabwe’s greatest resource is its young people.

A Young Nation at a Demographic Turning Point

“Zimbabwe is blessed to have one of the youngest populations in Africa,” said Honourable Tonoda Machakaire, Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training. “With more than 60% of our citizens below the age of 35, we possess a tremendous national advantage. Our youthful population is not a challenge to be managed. It is our greatest national asset to be developed.”

That demographic reality is both an opportunity and a responsibility. Whether it becomes a “demographic dividend” or a missed chance depends on choices made today – by government, communities, development partners, and by young people themselves.

The newly launched Demographic Futures Survey 2026, presented by UNFPA Representative Ms. Miranda Tabifor, offers rare, youth-centered insight into those choices. Conducted in 73 countries and territories, the survey captured the views of 108,926 young adults aged 18–39, including in Zimbabwe, on their life goals, relationships and aspirations for parenthood.

According to the global findings:
• 66.6% of young people are optimistic about the future, despite anxiety about jobs, inequality and instability.
• Economic security is their top life goal – 71.1% rate it as “extremely” or “very” important.
• Marriage remains a valued ideal – 68% see it as their preferred relationship milestone.
• Around 80% want children, driven primarily by the emotional joy of parenthood, not by demographic targets.

“Young people are growing up amid profound social, economic and technological transformations,” Ms. Tabifor noted. “Rising housing costs, precarious labour markets, widening inequalities and climate concerns are reshaping what is possible – and what feels out of reach. Our responsibility is to listen to what young people say they need to realize their aspirations and then act.”

Lives: Every Young Life Matters

The first pillar of this year’s theme – Lives – speaks to the intrinsic value of every young person.
“Every life is valuable,” Minister Machakaire stressed. “Every young person deserves access to quality education, healthcare, skills development, and opportunities that enable them to reach their full potential. A healthy and educated population is the foundation of a prosperous nation.”

Zimbabwe’s government, he said, is expanding vocational training centers, strengthening youth empowerment programmes, and intensifying the fight against drug and substance abuse. “Drug abuse destroys dreams, tears families apart, and robs our nation of its greatest resource – its young people,” the Minister warned, vowing that the response would go beyond policing to include prevention, rehabilitation, mental health support and community-based interventions.

He was equally candid about the need to safeguard young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. Reflecting on a widely shared social media case involving a minor and HIV, he promised zero tolerance for the exploitation of children and adolescents. “We cannot allow that to happen – infecting a minor who has the future to lead this country. Every young life matters.”

The priority on health and dignity is reflected in recent policy moves, including the National Framework to Prevent and Manage Adolescent Pregnancies and revised national clinical guidelines. “Every young girl deserves the opportunity to complete her education.

Every young boy deserves opportunities that allow him to contribute positively to society. Every young person deserves health,” he emphasized.

Choices: When Opportunity Unlocks Freedom

The second pillar – Choices – recognizes that freedom is only meaningful when it is backed by real opportunities.

“Meaningful choices can only exist where opportunity exists,” said Minister Machakaire. “Young people cannot fully exercise their freedoms without education, employment and access to healthcare.”

That reality comes through clearly in the Demographic Futures Survey. Across countries:
• 81% of young people say financial security is essential before entering a stable partnership or marriage.
• Economic and housing constraints are the top barriers to partnership, rated “very important” by 28% of respondents.
• For parenthood, financial security is again the leading precondition, cited by 67.3% – and by 88% when listed among “nonnegotiable” conditions, closely followed by stable employment at 87%.
• Economic and housing constraints are also the single largest active barrier to having children, rated “very important” by 38.7% of respondents.

“Young people are saying loudly: we value partnership and family, but the conditions must be right,” Ms. Tabifor explained. “Secure jobs, affordable housing, access to health and reproductive services, and emotional readiness are not luxuries – they are prerequisites.”

In Zimbabwe, the new National Youth Policy aims to tackle these constraints head-on. As Honourable Machakaire outlined, it offers a roadmap to unlock youth potential through:
• Economic empowerment and employment creation.
• Skills development and vocational training.
• Digital transformation and innovation.
• Health and well-being, including SRHR.
• Environmental sustainability.
• Meaningful youth participation in governance.

“It is fully aligned with Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 2, ensuring that no young Zimbabwean is left behind,” he said. “Our ambition is simple, but profound - we want young people to move from job seekers to job creators; from consumers of technology to innovators; from beneficiaries of development to leaders of development.”

Futures, From Demographic Dividend to Shared Prosperity

The final pillar – Futures – speaks to long-term investment and intergenerational responsibility.
“The future of Zimbabwe will be determined by the investments we make today,” Honourable Machakaire observed. “Every classroom we build, every innovation hub we establish, every vocational training center we modernize, and every young entrepreneur we support is an investment in our national future.”

Here again, the data provides a roadmap. The Zimbabwe Demographic Survey 2023/24 shows that ideal family size remains relatively high compared to other regions, rising from 3.1 children among women aged 15–19 to 4.3 among women aged 35–39. At the same time, economic pressures and housing constraints are already delaying partnerships and parenthood.

Globally, the Demographic Futures Survey notes a widening “partnership gap”. Among 25–39-year-olds who want a partner, 25% are single and not dating, with unpartnered rates higher among young men (30%) than women (19%). Where aspirations and realities diverge, frustration and disillusionment can grow – unless policy and investment keep pace.

“Good policy must be informed by credible data,” Honourable Machakaire said, calling the 2026 Demographic Futures Report “a call to action” for government, development partners, academia, the private sector and communities. “When we understand our population, we make better decisions about education, health, employment, housing, infrastructure and economic development.”

“A Youthful Population Is Not a Burden”

For His Excellency Tinashe Mugodhi, the Child President of Zimbabwe, this moment is also a test of generational courage. “A youthful population is not a burden to be managed. It is a strategic advantage to be cultivated,” he said. “If we invest wisely in education, health, innovation and leadership, today’s young people will become tomorrow’s architects of prosperity.”
Addressing leaders and peers alike, he issued a blunt challenge: “Allow me to challenge each and everyone in this room to work towards youth empowerment unapologetically.

We must refuse to become a generation that normalizes apathy simply because ‘hasha dzadoka’ [the anger has subsided]. Leadership is not an ornament of authority. Leadership is responsibility. Leadership is accountability.”
His words echoed the survey’s core message. Young people are neither passive beneficiaries nor a problem to be solved. They are already leading change “in ways both large and small,” as UN Resident Coordinator Ms. Rosemary Kalapurakal put it in her remarks.

“Your aspirations, your voice, your leadership matter,” she told youth in attendance. “You are not waiting for the future. You are already shaping it. The question is not whether Zimbabwe’s young people are ready. The question is whether the systems around you are ready to support your ambitions.”

A Call from the United Nations – and from Youth Themselves

Noting that Zimbabwe stands at a defining demographic moment,” Ms. Kalapurakal said, “With its dynamic youth population, it holds one of its greatest assets for achieving inclusive growth, innovation, and sustainable development. But this demographic dividend is never automatic. It depends on whether youth have access to quality education, market-relevant skills, decent jobs, health services, and meaningful opportunities to participate in society.”

Quoting the UN Secretary-General’s message for World Population Day, she reminded participants that all young people deserve “the freedom, opportunity and support to shape their own lives, and contribute meaningfully to their communities,” including the right to make informed choices about their bodies, lives and futures.

“Our approach is simple,” she said. “Expand choices, strengthen opportunities, protect rights, amplify youth voices. If we invest in young people today, we invest in a more prosperous, more inclusive and more resilient Zimbabwe tomorrow. Please count on the United Nations to stand with the government and people of Zimbabwe in making that vision a reality.”

Measuring a Nation by Its Youth

As the event closed, Minister Machakaire posed a challenge that may well define Zimbabwe’s demographic era.

“The true measure of a nation is not how many people it has,” he said, “but how many young people it empowers. If we invest wisely in our youth today, history will remember this generation as the one that transformed Zimbabwe’s demographic advantage into sustained national prosperity.”

On this World Population Day, guided by evidence from the Demographic Futures Survey and the voices of its own youth, Zimbabwe has signaled its answer. The task now is to turn data into decisions, policies into practice, and the promise of “Lives, Choices and Futures” into tangible progress for every young Zimbabwean.

Sirak Gebrehiwot is UN Partnerships and Development Finance Advisor at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office

22/07/2026

No data equals inequitable development

By Tafadzwa Mwale

As the curtain came down on the Data for Development and Innovation High-Level Meeting on 21 July, one thing was evident: sustainable development cannot take place in the absence of clear data analysis.

The half-day meeting held in Harare brought together think tanks and experts across different sectors who can influence the development paradigm through leveraging data, digitalisation and innovation.

“Achieving the National Development Strategy 2 and the Sustainable Development Goals requires stronger use of quality data, digitalisation and innovation to drive better decisions and results”, Data for Development and Innovation co-chair Miranda Tabifor told the meeting.

“In fact, data is a Key Performance indicator of the United Nations,” added Tabifor who is also the UNFPA Representative in Zimbabwe.

The meeting covered early warning, risk intelligence and anticipatory action; digital health and interoperable health information systems; programme monitoring, results management and decision dashboards; and systems coordination and interoperability.

Through these areas, practical examples of how data, digitalisation and innovation are already transforming institutions and improving people's lives were showcased. They include innovations around early warning systems for mining safety, fire management and drought anticipatory action, interoperable health information systems, youth data stewardship, artificial intelligence, GBV information management, integrated monitoring dashboards and population registers.

Speaking at this event ZimSTAT Director General Tafadzwa Bandama said evidence-based decision-making has become more important than ever.

“As we continue developing the Fourth National Strategy for the Development of Statistics, the discussions and recommendations from this meeting will provide valuable insights for building a more integrated , innovative and resilient national data ecosystem,” she said in a speech read on her behalf by Fadzayi Ndlovu, ZimStat Director Statistical Services.

United Nations agencies and entities including UNFPA, IOM, FAO, IFRC, UNICEF, WHO and UNAIDS are working jointly with government and partners in data, digitalisation and innovation through financial and technical support.

The meeting was attended by Office of the President and Cabinet, ZIMSTAT officials, Government officials, United Nations Agencies, development partners, academia, civil society, innovation hubs; youth and women representatives.

18/07/2026

Mandela Day at Beitbridge: Turning Zimbabwe’s Returnees into a New Pact for Regional Prosperity

By Sirak Gebrehiwot

On Thursday 16 July, as part of a Government–UN joint mission to Beitbridge, I saw the pains, hopes and quiet relief of coming home etched on hundreds of faces.

Beitbridge wakes before dawn. Dust rises as buses from Musina cough to a stop and doors open to reveal what remains of lives. Mothers step down with babies bound to their backs. Young men clutch plastic bags and a few folded blankets — the last tangible pieces of years, spent in South Africa.

They come with stories of evictions and threats, of townships where the night air is thick with rumors and anger, of streets warmed by hate. Since midMay 2026, nearly 100,000 Zimbabweans have crossed back over the Limpopo — some days more than three thousand — fleeing a harsh mix of economic strain, enforcement drives and xenophobic violence in South Africa’s cities.

Our mission, led by the Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Honourable Daniel Garwe who chairs a wholeofgovernment approach to disaster risk reduction and response, and the UN Resident Coordinator, Dr Rosemary Kalapurakal was meant to assess the situation at the point of entry, review the services being provided, and discuss preparations for longterm reintegration. Instead, the day began with grief.

Before any briefing or presentation could start, the meeting with all stakeholders — government officials, local authorities, UN agencies, NGOs, private sector representatives, faith leaders and community representatives and volunteers — opened with a moment of silence. Two returning migrants had died in recent days: one in Musina, another en route to their final destination in Zimbabwe.

In that heavy silence, the statistics we had been tracking for weeks ceased to be numbers. They became names, families, unfinished journeys.
Standing at that border post beside the Honourable Minister and the Resident Coordinator, you feel the weight of history and the fragility of promise.

Mandela taught us that ending poverty is an act of justice, not charity. He believed collective action could remake unjust systems. On this Mandela Day, Beitbridge is asking whether Southern Africa will answer that call. Will we stand together for migrants, or let fear harden into policy?

The human need we observed is immediate and undeniable. At the reception points, we saw teams registering arrivals and screening for protection concerns. Hot meals were being served under canvas shade. Temporary shelters and basic nonfood items were being distributed. Health workers carried out medical checks; social workers and protection officers stood ready to respond to genderbased violence and child protection cases. Education officials and partners were already planning placements so children would not lose yet another school term.

Zimbabwe’s Joint Response Plan, which the Honourable Minister and the Resident Coordinator signed for joint resource mobilization on the ground, translates lofty commitments into practical action: reception at points of entry, vulnerabilitybased humanitarian support, reintegration assistance, and coordination and accountability.

It is anchored in the UN Charter’s faith in human dignity, the 2030 Agenda’s promise that no one is left behind, the African Union’s Agenda 2063 vision of an integrated, peaceful and prosperous Africa, and AfCFTA’s hope for a single market where people and goods move without fear.

Yet it became clear in our discussions that this is more than emergency management. The return movement is a test of regional solidarity and of the international legal order. When mobs beat a shopkeeper for being foreign, when families are forced onto the street overnight because of a passport, the principles that underpin cooperation — human rights, due process, and public order grounded in law — are being violated. Those obligations were central to Mandela’s politics. Sovereignty paired with responsibility, selfreliance tempered by solidarity.

If we treat the Beitbridge arrivals merely
as a logistical challenge, we will miss the chance to convert crisis into a new compact for the region. The foundations for that compact already exist. SDG 8 calls for decent work for all; SDG 10 insists on safe, orderly and regular migration. Agenda 2063 aspires to free movement and humancentred development. SADC’s industrialization roadmap imagines regional value chains that create jobs across borders.

What we need now is the political will and urgent action to link these frameworks into a coherent pathway for people like those stepping off the buses at dawn.

From our field visits and conversations, a different trajectory is not only imaginable; it is necessary. At reception points, registration can become the start of reintegration, not a ledger of loss.

A reintegration fund, which the Plan already foresees, can be tied to SADC level skills programmes so a returned apprentice in Bulawayo plugs into agroprocessing value chains in neighboring countries. Regional labour agreements can guarantee minimum wages and safe conditions for migrant workers, alongside mutual recognition of qualifications.

Social protection can become portable — pensions and health coverage following workers across borders. AfCFTA’s promise of freer trade can be matched by policies that make crossborder traders, many of them women we met at Beitbridge, visible, legal and protected.

These are practical reforms: crossborder apprenticeships; joint industrial projects in green energy and light manufacturing; shared digital platforms for job matching and small business finance. They would turn remittances and diaspora investments into durable local enterprises, not shortterm survival strategies.

They would also blunt the political temptation to scapegoat migrants when economies tighten. If jobs and social protection grow regionally, migrants become partners in prosperity rather than targets of rage.

Equally vital — as our discussions with local authorities and security actors underlined — is the rule of law. Migration enforcement must follow due process; mass raids and collective expulsions violate both rights and common sense. Police and law enforcement must protect. Perpetrators and their instigators — including those spreading hate online — must face prosecution.

Access to justice, legal aid and clear complaint mechanisms should be routine, not exceptional. These practices honour the pledge in the UN Charter to promote social progress through cooperation, and they mirror Mandela’s insistence that dignity and fairness are nonnegotiable.

The UN Zimbabwe Joint Response Plan is modest in its price tag — around US$29 million — but, walking through the reception centre, I saw how it sketches what dignity looks like in practice: safe shelter instead of a night on the roadside; school fees instead of another lost year; continuity of HIV and TB treatment; livelihoods support that can keep thousands of households from slipping deeper into poverty.

If fully funded and embedded in national development priorities, AfCFTA implementation and SADC industrialization plans, it could seed a new social compact on migration and work across Southern Africa.

On this Nelson Mandela International Day, as more families cross back into Zimbabwe, the choice we discussed at Beitbridge is stark. We can respond with shortterm containment — keeping people alive but stuck on the margins — or we can pursue integration and justice. Mandela’s legacy calls us to the harder, more transformative path - to build systems where movement is safe, work is decent and rights are shared.

That means governments, regional bodies, business and civil society acting together — not merely in sympathy, but in coordinated policy and investment. It means turning the wholeofgovernment leadership we saw from the Honourable Minister Daniel Garwe at Beitbridge into a wholeofregion response.

If Southern Africa answers that call, the crisis at Beitbridge will be remembered not only for its suffering, and not only for the two lives we honoured in silence, but for the moment the region chose solidarity over suspicion.

That would be a truer tribute to Mandela than any monument - ensuring that every person, migrant or citizen, can live free from fear and from want.

Sirak Gebrehiwot is UN Partnerships and Development Finance Advisor at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office.

17/07/2026

Joint Drive to Welcome Thousands of Zimbabwean Returnees Home

By Sirak Gebrehiwot

Honourable Daniel Garwe, Minister of Local Government and Public Works, cut through the numbers with a simple, human message at Beitbridge. This crisis is not about statistics, it is about families coming home – and about a nation choosing to welcome, protect and reintegrate them together.

“The arrival at Beitbridge is not the end,” he said. “It is the point to start from. Let us receive our brothers and sisters. These are our relatives. They can never be looked at as a burden. Let us open our arms and welcome them, reintegrate them in our communities.”

By mid-morning, buses filled much of the Beitbridge Reception Centre – some pulling in with new arrivals, others loading screened returnees for the final leg of their journey home.
Children pressed their faces to the windows, clutching school satchels that hold more memories than books. Mothers steadied sleeping infants on their backs and laps. Young men stared straight ahead, minds already racing toward the question that now shapes every waking moment: “What next?”

For tens of thousands of Zimbabweans forced to leave South Africa in recent weeks, this dusty border town has become the threshold between loss and possibility. Here, more than 100,000 returnees are turning back into neighbours and kin – lives abruptly upended, but not abandoned.

On 16 July 2026, under a sharp winter sun, senior Government officials led by Honourable Minister Garwe stood alongside UN Resident Coordinator Dr. Rosemary Kalapurakal and UN agencies, civil society, faith leaders, philanthropists, private sector representatives and local volunteers. Their shared message was that this response is about dignity, and it is about doing it together.

“For weeks I have been receiving reports and attending meetings on the situation affecting Zimbabwean returnees,” Dr. Kalapurakal said. “But here in Beitbridge, the trends and numbers take on a very different meaning. They become real people: mothers carrying children, young people worried about opportunity, families returning home with a few bags and many uncertainties about what comes next.”

One such mother arrived days earlier with three children and a single suitcase. She left Zimbabwe 15 years ago for Johannesburg in search of greener pastures. Today she stands back on home soil with no job, no home of her own and no guarantee her children will return to school this term.

Yet she did not step into an empty yard.
Civil servants guided her through registration. Health staff checked her children and dispensed medicines. Social welfare officers quietly confirmed that all her children were with her. Volunteers showed her where she could call relatives, where she would sleep, where she would find food, where she could pray.

“This border crossing is not simply a point of entry,” Dr. Kalapurakal told partners. “It is the beginning of a new chapter… a moment of great vulnerability, but also a moment where we can help create hope.”

That new chapter is being deliberately shaped.
Government has adopted a three-pronged reintegration strategy that reaches far beyond the reception tents.

Social reintegration means ensuring returnees can obtain identity documents, enroll their children in school, access health care and reconnect to social protection – with particular focus on women, children, people with disabilities and those with mental health needs.

Economic reintegration focuses on work and livelihoods. At registration desks, officials from the Ministry of Skills Audit and Development are documenting the skills of returnees. More than 15,000 people have already been entered into a growing national database, each with an average of more than one marketable skill – from farm work and bricklaying to driving, welding, domestic work and hospitality.

“These statistics tell us that returnees are not merely coming back home; they are also bringing back skills we can incorporate into our system,” a ministry representative noted. The challenge now is to connect those skills to real opportunities in agriculture, construction, services and local enterprises.

Cultural reintegration recognizes that some have been away for 10, 20 or even 30 years. Traditional leaders, churches and other faith-based organizations are being drawn into the process to help restore a sense of belonging, community norms and identity.

This whole approach is anchored in National Development Strategy 2 and Vision 2030 – turning a migration crisis into a chance to strengthen community resilience, human capital and inclusive growth.

What is unfolding at Beitbridge is one of the largest organized returns Zimbabwe has ever managed. On some June nights, more than 3,500 people arrived in just a few hours, overwhelming facilities designed for far fewer.

The system held because many hands were already on deck.

The Government of Zimbabwe is leading, with the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, Civil Protection, Social Welfare, Health and Child Care, Skills Audit and Development, and Foreign Affairs and International Trade all playing defined roles in a coordinated architecture.

The United Nations family – including IOM, UNICEF, WFP, UNFPA, UN Women, WHO and others – is providing transport and logistics, food assistance, health and nutrition services, child protection and documentation, dignity kits, mental health and psychosocial support, WASH services and information management.

The First Lady, through her Angel of Hope
Foundation, has mobilized food and essential goods, joining philanthropists and foundations who have quietly sent truckloads of support from within Zimbabwe and across the border.
Faith-based organizations and churches have offered tents, food, volunteers and counselling, repeating a simple message from their pulpits: these returnees are our brothers, sisters, children and neighbours.

Civil society groups such as MSF, Red Cross and No One Sleeps Hungry have brought medical care, extra toilets, handwashing facilities, communication services and food.

Ordinary Zimbabweans have arrived with mealie meal, blankets, used clothes – and the time and energy to help cook three hot meals a day for people they may never see again.

“We have adopted a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach,” explained Mr. Farai Hokonya, Acting Chief Director of Civil Protection. “This situation does not only remain a government issue. It is a community issue. It means everyone has to play a part.”

Restoring dignity, step by step

Inside the centre, the response is organized but deeply human.

Every person stepping off a bus is profiled by an intergovernmental team under Social Welfare’s Social Development Department. By mid-July, over 32,000 people had been processed here alone – around 18,600 women and girls, 13,000 children and just eight unaccompanied minors, a sign that most families managed to stay together.

A local catering committee from Beitbridge, supported by government and partners, works around the clock to ensure no one goes hungry. When numbers suddenly surged above 3,500 in a single night, the system “jammed”, officials recall – but did not break.

Civil Protection manages a central warehouse where every donation is recorded. Social Welfare draws items as needed to ensure food, hygiene and shelter are shared fairly. “Everything is 100% accounted for,” one official stressed, to honour the trust of those who give.

The Red Cross offers each returnee a free three-minute phone call to loved ones. In a small booth, a man who has not called home in years dials a familiar number. When his sister answers, his first word is simply: “Ndadzoka” – I am back.

Health workers from the Ministry of Health and Child Care, supported by partners, have treated more than 1,400 patients at the on-site clinic. Two-thirds are women; nearly a third are children under 15. Most are dealing with respiratory infections, exhaustion and pain from the journey, but many also need ARV refills, TB treatment, antenatal care and safe deliveries. A cholera treatment tent stands ready – a visible reminder of the ongoing risk when thousands share limited facilities.

“This is not just about immediate care,” a health official said. “We are thinking about continuity – immunizations, chronic disease management, mental health, long-term follow-up when people return to their home districts.”

A call not to look away

Despite remarkable progress, the strain is evident with crowded sleeping areas, queues at water points, drug stocks stretched thin, exhausted staff.

“The progress achieved and the growing number of returnees continue to place considerable pressure on transportation, shelter, food, health, sanitation and protection mechanisms,” Minister Garwe acknowledged. “Additional resources are required for safe ongoing operations and to prepare for further arrivals.”

In a Joint Resource Mobilization Statement signed by Honourable Garwe and Dr. Kalapurakal, the Government of Zimbabwe and the United Nations issued a united appeal, calling on all partners “to support this national effort to ensure the safe, orderly and dignified return and sustainable reintegration of all Zimbabwean nationals returning from South Africa.”

Standing beside him, Dr. Kalapurakal issued a wider appeal: “This is not a moment to observe from the sidelines. The needs are clear. The Government is leading. The United Nations will support these efforts cohesively as one family… What is required now is the additional support needed to match the scale of the challenge.”

For the families who step off the buses each day, that support is measured in very simple things. A plate of sadza after a 20hour journey, a mattress under a roof, a nurse checking a child’s breathing, a stranger paying for one more bus ride so a village daughter can reach home.

Every person crossing this border carries skills, aspirations and hopes for the future. Under Honourable Garwe’s leadership, the story unfolding at Beitbridge is about a country choosing not to turn away, but to turn towards its own – and inviting the world to walk with it, so that coming home is not the end of a journey, but the beginning of a new one.

Sirak Gebrehiwot is UN Partnerships and Development Finance Advisor at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Zimbabwe

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